Fantasy Baseball Draft 2014: Team Preview - New York Yankees

March 10, 2014

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Team Preview - New York Yankees

The Yankees are setup to have an interesting season in 2014. Mariano Rivera will not be there and Jeter is going to be riding his final wave. The Yankees are truly a transitioning organization, and it will be interesting to see how this team holds up over the course of a very long season. Despite all the changes the Yankees are facing, they are still a team with a lot to contribute to the fantasy baseball world.

Can't Miss Picks: The Yankees overhauled their roster this offseason and they added several new superstar players. Of those new additions, Jacoby Ellsbury is the player most likely to live up to his draft status. Ellsbury has suffered from injury shortened seasons in his career, but he is only 30 years old and still in peak condition. Ellsbury should be able to take advantage of the hitter friendly Yankee Stadium and produce another solid fantasy season.

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Sleepers and Value Picks: Normally when a left handed power hitter moves to New York to play for the Yankees their fantasy value increases, but so far this spring that has not been the case for Brian McCann. McCann has hit 20+ homers for six seasons in a row, and now he has a shorter fence and should get 500+ at bats since he can now DH. McCann has the potential to have a career year and he represents great value as the 100th pick of the draft. Hiroki Kuroda is also a great value pick on the Yankees. The evidence is clear in the fact that he was the best pitcher on the Yankees last year and he is currently being drafted after two other Yankee starters in fantasy drafts this spring.

Breakouts: David Robertson is going to be given the task of filling the void left behind by Mariano Rivera, and his current track record says that he is up to the task. Over the last three seasons, Robertson has produced a 1.91 ERA with 258 strikeouts in 193.2 innings. This year the closers role belongs to Robertson and he is going to have the opportunity to become a breakout star in 2014.

Busts: C.C. Sabathia and Masahiro Tanaka are two players that are being overvalued in fantasy drafts this year, and fantasy owners should not pay the price that these two are getting. Tanaka is being drafted as a top 100 player despite the fact he has not played in a single major league game. All pitchers that come over from Japan need an adjustment period, and their is no guarantee that Tanaka will be able to live up to the hype in his first year. For every Yu Darvish there is a Daisuke Matsuzaka, and that means fantasy owners should not over pay for an unproven import from Japan. C.C. Sabathia on the other hand has many red flags surrounding him. Sabathia has changed his physique and looks like a completely different player, and while that means he is in better shape, it does not mean he will regain the former speed of his fastball. Sabathia is a power pitcher whose velocity has decreased each of the last two seasons, and fantasy owners should avoid him this year.

Bounce Back Candidates: Derek Jeter is entering his final season and it is hard to believe that he won't have a rebound season. Jeter is the type of player that leaves it all out on the field and now there is literally no tomorrow for him. The future hall of famer has earned the benefit of the doubt and he should be able to produce 100+ runs with double digit homers and a .300+ batting average in his final season. Kelly Johnson is another left hand hitter that has some pop in his bat and he could take advantage of his new home ballpark. The biggest knock on Johnson is his terrible batting average of .226 over the last three seasons. Despite this awful stretch by Johnson, he still post a career batting average of .253. If Johnson can manage to hit his career batting average than he could be in for a 20+ homer season.

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